A Few Elf on the Shelf Ideas

I mentioned last week that my kids made their own Elf on the Shelf, which relieved some of the Mommy Guilt I felt when I saw pictures all over the internet of the cool things other mamas were doing. Here are a few ideas from my friend Crystal. (But I’m still not doing it! Maybe next year . . . )

Are you doing Elf on the Shelf at your house this year? Everywhere you turn people are talking about what their Elf has done.

If you have not started this fun tradition it is not too late. I am sharing 30 days of Elf on the Shelf ideas on my site until Christmas morning.

If you are new to the idea here is how it works. Elf comes at Christmas time and each day he observes the kids’ behavior and then reports back to Santa each night. Then each morning you wake up to find Elf in a brand new place in your home. Children are not to touch him.

At our house Elf is silly and fun. Sometimes he leaves a note and sometimes he leaves treats. My kids love the hunt of searching for him each morning. (We have also used Elf to remind our children that Jesus is the Reason for the Season.)

One morning our 3 year old picked Elf up and threw him down. After his bad fall Elf left a reminder note that children are not to touch him.

Make marker mustaches on your kids while they’re sleeping and then wake up to Elf wearing a mustache too!A link to thefree mustache printableis on my site.

Elf left chocolate coins for our kids reminding them that good behavior can pay off. Coins like these can be found in the dollar bins at Target. {{wink}}

Elf has left some fun jokes at our house. This free printable is available for download on my site as well. There are eight cards that print on one sheet and can be used as lunchbox notes or as notes from Elf.

Elf has gone fishing- MacGyver style. My husband pulled this one off for me using simple resources we already had on hand. Funny story behind this one.

Have you made Elf on the Shelf a tradition at your house? I would love to know what Elf has been up to in your neck of the woods.

Crystal is the author of the mommy resource siteCrystal & Co. , and is mom to five wild boys. She loves to share easy recipes, weekly meal plans and craft tutorials. She is also the author of the eBook How to Meal Plan: A Step by Step Guide for Busy Moms.

Comments

Ohmigosh, how CUTE! And here I thought they were just decorations! Where were the elves when I was young, or even when my children were all younger. My youngest is the only one that really gets in the Christmas spirit anymore. *sigh* I may have to “borrow” some of your ideas. <:O)

We are doing Elf on the Shelf over here and I did a few posts on him but I thought they were getting a little boring. I was running out of good places to put him with a 2 year old. I didn’t want to put him anywhere that he would touch him. And some of the fun things that I have seen he wouldn’t understand. So he was getting a little boring just hanging off things around the house. I was going by the rule that no one could touch him, so I didn’t want to put him in a place that would be in the way for they day. But I think I will change the rules that only mommy and daddy can touch him and I will look for a little chair that I can move him too on the mantle so he can ‘watch’ all day.

Dana White – “Nony the Slob”

Welcome to the completely honest account of my personal deslobification journey. I share cleaning and organizing strategies that actually work. In REAL life. Like, for someone who doesn't like cleaning and organizing. And I'm funny.